Development news on CNN World Report

Abstract

Beginning in the 1970s, critics of western news media began a campaign for a New World Information Order (NWIO). They argued this new "order" was necessary if the global audience for news was to receive information about economic and social develop ments from around the world. While advocates of the NWIO have yet to achieve all of their goals, the campaign appears to have fostered some noteworthy attempts on the part of western media to correct the imbalance of international news coverage. Perhaps the most significant evidence of this is CNN World Report, begun in 1987 as an outlet for news organizations around the world to report news about their countries, from their own perspective. During the program's first year, it was clear that it could be an important outlet for development news. Not surprisingly, more stories about development came from developing rather than developed countries. By 1989, however, the percentage of develop ment news on CNN World Report had declined somewhat, both overall and in terms of the stories submitted by developing country media. Contrary to expectations, the proportion of development news from the developed world actually increased.